by ‘Jola Sotubo
When Monday Obinna set out on Thursday the 15th of June, 2013, he had no idea of the fate that awaited him. He related his unfortunate ordeal to the Saturday Vanguard.
Obinna, an employee of an advertising firm based in Lagos with special attention on outdoor advertising, travelled to Makurdi for a work related purpose and it was there that tragedy befell him.
According to him: “I am a marketing officer and North Central supervisor of ‘Ahaa Media’ and we specialize in outdoor advertising which include the mounting of billboards across the country.
“On that fateful day, I travelled to Makurdi to supervise and monitor our billboards in the town, but to my chagrin, I saw that one of our authorised billboards located on Otukpo road, close to Sev-Av Foundation Headquaters had Hero larger beer illegally advertised on it without due authorization.
“I made enquiries as to who posted the advertorial to no avail. I had no option but to climb the board in an attempt to remove the advertised image.
“While I was doing that, one Chidiebere Okugo who claimed he is the sales representative of the firm whose product was advertised on the board, mobilized hoodlums who assisted him to attack me while I was still hanging on the billboard.
“They used dangerous weapons including sticks, stones and what I later realized was a chemical to force me down, but I refused because the way they confronted me, I was afraid for my life.
“At that point, I fell down and they descended on me, but I was lucky to have been rescued by a team of Police men from the command headquarters. It was at the police station that I noticed that parts of my body were peeling off.”
He said after making his statement at the station, he was granted bail and rushed to a hospital in Makurdi for first aid treatment and afterwards transferred to the National Hospital Abuja and later to the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital where he underwent plastic surgery and is currently battling with pains and life threatening burns on parts of his body.
Meanwhile the lead accused, Chidiebere Okugo, is denying any involvement in the acid bathing saga. He claims that he only noticed the burns on the victim’s body when he was taken to the Police station.
According to him: “It was at the Police station that I noticed injury on the man’s body. I noticed that his leg and other parts of his body were peeling off and I do not know how to describe it…Though I was aware that the victim was rushed to the National Hospital Abuja, I did not order anybody to beat him up.”
A Makurdi based legal practitioner, Terfa Akosu has taken up the matter in pursuit of justice for the victim.
“That the young man is still alive today is just by the sheer grace of God and we strongly believe that justice would be done in the matter to serve as deterrent to others” Akosu said.
